Planner Sections For A Productive Planner

Are you setting up a new planner or perhaps still trying to figure out what works best for you in your planner? Need a little help deciding how your planner should be sectioned or what you should keep in your planner?

Today I am going to help you figure that out with my best tips & tricks for planner sections.. from a very functional & productive planner gal.

Sections in your planner are what divide it all up, making it easier for you to access each section & store the important information you need.

Everyone’s planner will be different & especially if you are using planners for different things such as a finance planner, then you would be dividing it up by different finance sections.

So today, we are going to talk about the planner sections in the EVERYDAY CARRY planner. The every day carry planner (EDC) is the planner we bring with us allover. The catch all if you will. For me, it is basically the only planner I use. (I know, crazy right… I have an entire video on that as well!)

Let’s start at the beginning & take this section by section.

ONE. The first planner section I think is an absolute must in your planner is an INBOX. An inbox is essentially a brain dump. It is a place for you to scribble out all the thoughts in your head… the tasks, appointments, projects, ANYTHING, and get it down on paper to later process. An inbox is essential for a functional planning system. You need a place to get all those things out of your head or they will just keep swirling around in there or worse, you might forget all about them!

There is also so much more that can be in your inbox section such as your next actions, waiting on list, someday maybe list, to buy list & so much more! I will link my planning inbox system video for you as well if you would like to see an in depth video all about it!

TWO. A PROJECTS section, for sure! A project is something that requires more than 2 steps to accomplish it. Projects can be both big or small. Nonetheless, they take steps to get those projects done. A projects section is another crucial one for me as I use my planner for lots of projects planning. Some of these projects may even be something I do way in the future, but having it written and mapped out for me is key to getting it done.

If you simply write on your to do list to get “project x” done.. it right be very overwhelming due to the fact that it is not as easy as just getting that project done. But if you map out your projects and list more achievable smaller action steps to get there, it suddenly becomes more attainable. Then, on your daily or weekly to do list, you simply write the next step to get done and suddenly, you are completing projects little bu little which is better than never at all.

THREE. An AGENDA section. This would include your yearly, monthly, weekly, daily overviews. A place to track all appointments, events, scheduled items as well as timed tasks like deadlines. It is also a place to map out your day for your other tasks to get done. If you are like me, you may use a digital calendar for things like appointments.. however, I still believe an agenda section is crucial as I like to map out my day/week in there & have a safe place on paper to also have those appointments incase anything were to ever happen with my digital calendar (technology is bittersweet).

FOUR. A CURRENTLY section. This is something I have been using in my planner system for a long time. Some of you told me you even wanted to try it out yourselves in your own planners. Essentially, this section is a catch all for anything current that just does not have a home in a section in your planner. For instance, things you might be researching right now or notes you are taking. Sometimes, those sheets do not belong in other sections so it is great to have a catch all someplace to find them easily.

FIVE. A WORK Section. So, if you have seen any of my planner flips you would know that I actually do not keep a section in my planner for my work.. I am a floral designer within the wedding industry and therefore my work is very hands on & for all he paper work that I do, we have an entire filing system at work as well as a clipboard system I use. That all stays at work.. I do not like to keep much of anything work related in my planner since it is nothing that I need to access outside of the work place. But, that being said, I do keep an entire section for Plan With Bee stuff. Since I put a lot of time, effort & love into my content, I have an entire section dedicated to it with all of my video ideas, blog post ideas, outlines & notes, ideas for my freebies (as you may already know I make a lot of planner printable freebies as well as digital wallpaper freebies which are on the main page of this website). So I needed a place to store all that information and it is a large part of my planning system. I’m sure if I worked a job in which I did do work from home, I would certainly have a work section in my planner, it is just not the case for me.

SIX. A section for your KIDS/FAMILY. I have a daughter so I always like to have a section for stuff that has to do with her such as her school schedule, notes of things I might want to ask her doctor, her glasses prescription…all sorts of things that just pertain to her so I can easily find them in my planner when I need them.

SEVEN. A FINANCE section. This does not mean all your finances. For instance, in my home, I have an entire filing system as well as a large binder system for financial things. However, in my everyday carry, I enjoy having a finance section for a place to jot things down that I need to transfer at some point into my main finance system or to see an overview of pay days, bill due dates, current bills I am paying down & more. I enjoy having this in my planner and it really works well in conjunction with my main finance system I keep at home.

EIGHT. A REFERENCE section is a must for me. This is for all your reference sheets. Such as, your planning routine, a cleaning routine, master lists of things such as packing lists, address change lists, task reminders list, computer guides or how tos & more. I love reference sheets because it allows me to not have to continuously rewrite the same things over and over, but rather have a place to reference them when I need to. Such a staple in my planner! This can also house collections of things, or bringing me to my next planner section idea…

NINE. A COLLECTIONS section. I used to use this and since have stopped. I have decided that my collections lists work better in a digital notebook I can access when I need to but I don’t often need to. A collections section would have all your collections lists like books you want to read, movies to watch, podcasts to listen to, places you want to visit, foods you want to try and so so much more! This keeps all those lists nice and neat and ready to read whenever you need them.

TEN. A HEALTH section. Many people use a health section in their planners and I think that is great. I also used to have a health section until again, I just use it on my digital notebooks and health apps now.. although it is nice to track an overview in your planner still. A health section can have you and your family health information in it, allergies, medications, doctor appointments, questions to ask a doctor, weight management, workouts & more. You can even use it for you mental & spiritual health which is just as important!

ELEVEN. A NOTES section. I mean, you have to have a place to jot notes, amiright?! I use my currently section for notes as well as they usually are relevant so they belong there for me unless I reference them. But some like to use a straight notes section which makes perfect sense to me! Just be sure to keep some blank paper in there!

TWELVE. A CONTACTS section. This is great to keep everyones contact & address information. I personally have a mini planner that houses these things as I do not feel the need to carry that information on me at all times (plus my phone has a lot of that too), but depending what you do on an everyday basis and if you find you need to access that information often, you might need that.

THIRTEEN. Going along with the last mentioned section, some might find it helpful to have a PASSWORDS or site info section. Again, this stays in the mini planner with the contacts at home for me, but you might find that you need to access that info often. Plus, you can always write those things down in code form so your passwords are not blatantly written in your planner.

There are so many more sections you could keep in your planners. At the end of the day, you have to choose the ones that make the most sense to your lifestyle. You have to figure out how and why you are using a planner to determine which sections you will need in your planner to get the most out of it. It is all about how well the planning system works for you.

Hopefully this was helpful! If you want to watch my video about all of this you can check it out above along with a few other videos you might be interested in! For my planner printable freebies as well as digital wallpaper downloads you can check out my freebies page linked on homepage!

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